Austrian doc’s inspiring Nishtha to serve society
Raghav Guleria
Dharamsala, March 22
Fascinated by Indian culture, Austrian national Dr Barbara Wiser visited Dharamsala in 1977 to learn yoga and Indian classical music. Initially, she had planned a short trip before her internship while pursuing Doctor of Medicine from the University of Vienna.
However, fate had other plans for her. She stayed back, and in 1978, she married Krishan Nath Baba, a singer who taught her harmonium and singing.
She went back to Austria in 1981 to complete the pending internship.
Speaking to The Tribune, the 75-year-old reminisces, “It has been a life full of struggle, but I feel enriched after serving the communities around.”
It was 1984 when she lost her husband. She joined Major Somnath Memorial Charitable Hospital as the Medical Superintendent and was commuting from Sidhbari to Dadh by bus daily.
Today, Dr Wiser is spearheads Nishtha, a charitable institution, serving society with 30 other passion-driven volunteers.
She was awarded the Austrian Golden Cross for Social Service by the President of Austria.
The organisation has a considerable visibility in the region. Patients from Rakkar, Molly, Khanyara, Totarani, Macleodganj, Naddi, Yol, Nagrota and Sidhbari regularly visit the clinic of the organisation. Tibetans and foreigners also frequent the clinic.
For Dr Wiser, the journey has been nothing short of satisfying. All the employees are very hardworking and the major funding comes from Austria, which meets the honorarium given to the volunteers, she says. Medicines, doctors and the school nutrition programmes are sponsored by Germany, she adds.
Dr Wiser has observed the region very closely. Noting the changes in the area, she says, “In the good old days, there was no money, but time, patience and compassion were in abundance.”
Nishtha Rural Health, Education, Environment Centre is a charitable trust established over 30 years ago to work for the benefit and development of society as a whole by improving the welfare of families with particular focus on women and children.
It runs a primary health centre catering to the needs of the community.
Nishtha has a very active community centre with a hall, computer room, and a well-stocked library for the children of the area.
The body works to provide malnourished children with fruits, vegetables and beans. Nishtha runs a student sponsorship programme, which enables daughters of single women to attend college.
“Our outreach programme for single women employs six local women activists who go out into the village in a 30 km radius from our clinic in Sidhbari, visiting each of the remote villages and meeting women who are living alone. It is extremely effective in enabling illiterate village women to access government schemes, which are there to help disadvantaged people,” Dr Wiser says.
According to her, twice a week, a doctor and support staff go out to one of the villages to run health education clinics organised by Nishtha activists.
These clinics address their personal health issues.
“Our doctors explain how diabetes, high blood pressure, heart conditions and joint pain can be addressed through diet, hygiene and exercise rather than just by relying on medication. The trust also arranges and distributes wheelchair, calipers, a sit-down toilet, home improvement or even blankets and mattresses to the needy,” Dr Wiser adds.
